Successful Trial of SSTA Accreditation Course and SSTA/CE Update Held via Zoom

Equestrian Australia, with Equestrian Queensland, successfully trialled Skills Specific Training Assessor (SSTA) and Coach Educator (CE) updates and an SSTA Accreditation Course via Zoom on Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th October.

The Zoom trials came about as we continue to look for alternative means to stay connected, provide opportunities for our coaches and maintain Assessor accreditation during these current COVID times.

Whilst SSTA/CE updates are not compulsory in 2020, and those who need to update have automatically been extended to 2021, ten CE/SSTAs joined us on Monday afternoon for a three-hour session. It was a great opportunity to trial a different delivery method and stay connected with our SSTA/CE community. 

The SSTA Accreditation Course had seven attendees from across Australia, including QLD, NSW and NT.

For those in our community who live in more far-off locations, the remote assessment opportunity provided an alternate method to stay connected and progress through the Coaching Pathway.

The feedback has been positive and we hope to further develop this method of education, assessment and accreditation, to ensure that the EA Coaching and Assessment processes remain consistent and accessible to everyone regardless of location.

The ability to adapt to the specific needs of each sporting discipline will also be explored, for example, Vaulting, Driving and Show Horse.

Equestrian Australia would like to thank the people who made this possible:

• Samantha Duffy from Equestrian Queensland for exploring the possibilities, organising the two days and working closely with Equestrian Australia on content.

• Simon Kale (EA Coach Educator, Level 3 Eventing and Level 3 General Coach) for flexibility in assessing the SSTA candidates and delivering the SSTA/CE Update as part of the trial.

• The SSTA candidates and SSTA/CEs who attended the trial. Thank you for your patience, flexibility and feedback. We can only improve from here.

We look forward to exploring this as a new path forward.